The Conversation

 Genesis 3:1-5

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’ ”

The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”

"You will not surely die,” the serpent told her, “For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 

     Eve was not surprised when the serpent spoke to her. There is no shock, just a simple conversation. It is what the serpent said, and how he said it, that changed everything. This conversation changed the nature of conversing between animals and people, between people with each other, between people and God. Before this conversation took place, the first two people were in daily personal contact with God and He with them. Adam worked with God in the garden: he cultivated and tended it; God created animals and let Adam name them. What they were called is what they are now. But The Conversation ruined everything.

     First, the serpent questioned God's Word (Did God really say that?). Second, Eve replied to the serpent with second-hand knowledge of what God spoke to Adam. 

     God said to Adam, "“You may eat freely from every tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”

     Eve said to the serpent, "But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’ ” She added to God's Word when she replied to the serpent, "or touch it". 

     Thirdly, the serpent lied to Eve by telling her she would not die. For death, separation from God, was instantaneous when she bit into the fruit which grew on the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Her first mistake was to listen to the serpent (verse 2), her second was to respond (verse 2-3), and her third was to take action after contemplating what the serpent spoke to her (verse 6). 

     This conversation between Eve and the serpent is repeated a multitude of times on a daily basis with all people. We need to learn from Eve's mistakes and avoid any form of conversation with the enemy of God. This is not something we can do on our own: we need the power of God, the power of His Holy Spirit, to teach us to recognize temptation when it rears its ugly head and to avoid it by rebuking it when we see it and hear it. 

     We must seek out God's Wisdom by studying God's Word and spending time in prayer with God Himself. We need to hang out with God's people, building each other up in love, faithfulness and compassion. We need to gather with God's people and worship God the way He wants to be worshiped: whole-heartedly.  

  

     This is the only recorded conversation between mankind and animal in the Garden of Eden. There is another instance of an animal speaking to a human, but that wasn't in the garden (Numbers 22:28-30). 

     I'd like to believe that the animals still talk in the Garden of Eden. It is hidden but still viable (verse 24). 

Identifying the Enemy's Tactics-Subtility

Genesis 3:1 "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, Yes, has God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"

Our enemy is subtle. Searching through different Biblical versions and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance for the word 'subtle/subtile' we see that this means crafty, sneaky, cunning, shrewd.  
In Genesis 3:1 the devil also twisted the words which God had spoken to Adam. He said "every tree", which may have confused Eve and tricked her into answering him instead of ignoring him. 
But when evil is whispered repeatedly into the ear, the heart makes a decision without thinking of the consequences. 
God said death was the punishment for eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). The serpent said, "You won't die, you will be like gods."  The enemy told an out and out lie. 
Death is the result of sin. Sin is willful disobedience to what God has spoken. Eve willfully ate the fruit and then handed it off to Adam, who also ate of it. In that instant they both knew they had disobeyed God. But the serpent's tactical interference did not end there. 
For when God asked why did they do it, neither took responsibility for their actions. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the snake. The snake was punished as well. Reading Genesis 3:14, 15 we see that snakes had legs! "upon thy belly you shall go". The snake itself became cursed above all animals which God had created. Verse 15 says God put enmity (hatred, hostility) between the woman and the serpent.  Not fear, but hatred. 
We are not to fear the enemy of our souls but be for ever on the attack and alert for him. Knowing how he works is a good start.